The Light and How to Swing It: Levels 51-60

This used to be the home stretch. In the old days, hitting level 51 was when players got their second wind after tiring out from the usually dreary 41 to 50. Now, however, it's just another bump in the road, with the endgame barely in sight. With Wrath of the Lich King looming over the horizon, the idea is to get through these levels as quickly as possible. Move along now, there's nothing to see here. Well, maybe a little, so we've cooked up this handy guide to see you through this not-quite-home-stretch.

If you've gotten your Paladin to this point, congratulations. Give yourself a pat on the back for sticking through with what is generally considered to be a boring challenging class. I got through my Paladin on a love-hate relationship. I love the class but I hate how slow everything can be. If you've gotten this far, you likely know what I mean. Seal, judge, seal, auto-attack, and alt-tab to read WoW Insider. If you're still deciding on whether to play the class, Elizabeth's guide from 1 to 20 is a good place to look. There's also the stretch from 21-40 for those of you who've decided to see if the free mount is worth it (I like mine a lot, thank you very much).

Level 51-53
The cool thing about these levels is that the current top tier talents are now available to you. As noted by Chris in the previous leveling guide, you'll have access to the fun talents now like Crusader Strike, Avenger's Shield, and, um... Divine Illumination. Well, mostly fun talents, anyway. You can put those talents to good use in the Western Plaguelands, which is where you should head. Town criers in all the major cities will give you Call to Arms: The Plaguelands! which will send you off to Chillwind Camp if you're Alliance and to the Bulwarkif you're Horde. Many Undead Horde players will recall the Bulwark as the curious area where they strayed too far and encountered Level ?? spiders and bears, and subsequently, death.

In your elementI recommend the Western Plaguelands over other zones of similar level such as Silithus andWinterspring for three reasons. The first is because Silithus is dreary, boring, infested withbugs and should only be visited if you have a penchant for getting sand in your knickers and a month's supply of Off!. Secondly, you are on the serious business of leveling, so it doesn't help to frolic in the snow or make friends with cuddly bears. Thirdly, the Western Plaguelands is plagued -- pardon the pun -- by a plethora of Undead. 

Paladins are in their element in the Plaguelands. The zone the best place to make judicious use of Exorcism and Turn Undead. Exorcism gets upgraded at Levels 52 and 60, and The Skill Formerly Known As Turn Undead (Rank 3) powers up into Turn Evil at Level 52. You should also just have gotten Holy Wrath at Level 50, so you should be have a little fun when you get into a tight spot. Speaking of tight spots, some quests might be somewhat difficult, such asScarlet Diversions, the immediate follow-up to Call to Arms for Horde players. The mobs are within close proximity of each other and have wide aggro ranges, making it difficult for classes without any means of ranged pulling such as, oh... Paladins.

Should you find that the initial quests in the Western Plaguelands prove to be more than you can handle solo -- despite the added utility of your anti-undead spells in your arsenal -- you can head to Felwood to finish off some backlog quests that will push you up past Level 52-53. Felwood is also an excellent place to quest because of Demon mobs. Very few people like Felwood, too, so you can quest undisturbed for the most part. When you have gained a level or two -- Hammer of GG (Rank 2) at Level 52, yay! -- you can head back to Western Plaguelands. You will be given the option to head to Winterspring from Felwood, but Paladins should feel right at home in the Plaguelands in all ways from role-playing to lore to improved gameplay.

The cold war
Level 51 is also a landmark Level because it opens up In Defense of Frostwolf for the Horde and The Sovereign Imperative for the Alliance. It's time to hit Alterac Valley. At 51, numerous quests in Alterac Valley open up and most can be done relatively undisturbed. Most give 9,550 XP such as capturing Graveyards or the Towers and Bunkers. Completing the daily PvP quest Call to Arms: Alterac Valley also gives excellent experience and all these can be done at the same time. 

With a bit of luck, it's also possible to complete Hero of the Frostwolf and Hero of the Stormpike at Level 51. As a reward, Retribution Paladins can pick up the Ice Barbed Spear, which is arguably the best weapon for these levels; Protection (or even Holy) Paladins can choose the Cold Forged Hammer. The Honor you rack up along the way can be used to purchase gear to fill out slots when you finally hit Level 60 or saved for Level 70 items.

Level 54-58
The chain of quests in the Western Plaguelands, from the cauldrons to Andorhal, will give rapid experience to push you to around Level 54, whereupon you can move to the Eastern Plaguelands to do more quests. In particular, Tirion Fordring gives a series of killing and drop quests, including Demon Dogs, allowing you to use more of your fun abilities. At Level 54, Horde players will be led to Nathanos Blightcaller, who sets off a chain of quests. Un-Life's Little Annoyances can be done at the same time as Blood Tinged Skies from Tirion Fordring. Alliance have a shorter series starting from Highlord Bolvar Fordragon which culminates in a quest to kill Nathanos Blightcaller. Both quest chains will award Sacred Protector, which is an excellent Paladin shield.

These are among the richest quest lines in the game and are worth doing not only because they give good XP, but because they delve deep into Warcraft lore that will become relevant again when Wrath of the Lich King finally arrives. The Argent Dawn will return in some form or other, and the floating citadel of Naxxramas which can be seen floating above Plaguewood, will move to Northrend. So while there are good quests and XP gains in Winterspring and Silithus, Paladins are enmeshed in the storylines in the Plaguelands. 

Paladins gain no new spells from Levels 54 through 58 other than higher ranks of old spellsas well as your first Greater Blessing. You should pick up a stack of Symbol of Kings to extend your viability in groups. It's also the one reagent you'll use extensively, since Divine Intervention is extremely situational. Level 54 is also significant in that it is the last time you will get an upgrade to Hammer of Justice, despite the fact that you have 16 Levels to go. If the quests in the Plaguelands aren't enough to take you to Level 58 (although they should), you can head over to Kalimdor to pick up some quests to push you over the hump. As soon as you hit Level 58, take the next bus to Outlands.

Level 59-60
Outlands quests are numerous, rewarding, and grant extremely high XP. Heading to Thrallmaror Honor Hold is the best option for leveling, and Paladins can continue to take advantage of their unique abilities as the zone is teeming with demons. Other than the inherent dangers on a PvP realm -- Hellfire Peninsula is the Stranglethorn Vale of the Outlands -- the zone is an excellent place to level as it holds enough quests to rapidly take characters past 60. Itemization also begins to change in the Outlands, as most old world blues are replaced by quest reward greens. Paladins benefit greatly from the new itemization, with numerous plate rewards possessing a mix of Strength, Intellect, and Spell Damage. 

Prudent Paladins should have slowly accumulated the materials necessary for their Chargerthrough all those levels. Elizabeth has prepared a detailed guide for the Alliance as well as for the Horde on how to get your bag space-saving mount. It's possible to hold off collecting the mats until you hit Level 60 but it's considerably easier to collect everything you need over the course of nine levels, allowing you to undertake and complete the quest line as soon as it becomes available. Congratulations, you're now one step closer to the home stretch. As exciting as Level 60 used to be, a whole new world opens up at Level 70.

The Light and How to Swing It: Levels 41-50

This week I'm going to continue the class guide by talking about levels 41-50. This is the level range I dislike the most when playing most of my characters (more specifically, 45-50), but I'm going to include suggestions to help you get through it as fast as possible. Since you got your mount at 40, you'll notice a distinct drop in travel time, but please be careful when mounted -- enemy mobs can still hit you, potentially knocking you off your mount to make your escape on foot. You may have chosen to respec at 40 to Protection or Holy, but I'm continuing as Retribution for leveling purposes (though Prot grinding is also quite fun). As such, certain quests / areas may be harder for some specs than others, so I've tried to offer alternative zones when possible just in case you start having trouble.

If you missed the last two installments of the leveling guide, you can find 1-20 here, and 21-40 here. Before we get started on level 41, I have a couple of recommendations: First, make sure your First Aid skill is leveled up and you have a nice stock of bandages, as sometimes you'll be low on mana and a bubble/bandage can save your life. Second, always carry around a stack or two of the best water (and maybe food) you can get, and if you've leveled cooking, try to keep yourself food buffed as much as possible. Third, take a deep breath -- some of the zones you have to quest in at this level range are notorious ganking grounds on PvP servers, and many have tough mobs that may give you trouble (especially if they have a level or two on you). You will likely find yourself running back from the graveyard a lot, and that's always frustrating. Just keep on at it, and you'll get through it.

Alright, so you just got your super-cool Warhorse, you've probably picked up a few pieces of plate armor, and you're feeling invincible. What do you do? Well, unless reaching 40 was some kind of personal goal at the end of a long journey, you keep leveling!

Levels 40-41: Stranglethorn Vale. There are tons of quests here, some of which you probably already did back in the late 30s. If you're Alliance, grab the new Flight Path at the Rebel Camp in the northernmost part of STV. If you're Horde, pick up all the available quests at Grom'gol. Players of both sides should pick up any quests you haven't done yet at Nessingwary's Expedition (northern STV , along the river). You should also make the run down to Booty Bay in the south-- there are a lot of quests down there, some of which require trips back up north. There are lots of quest chains in STV , so if you have any green quests here, you should finish them up and see if there is a follow up (especially for the "Mastery" quests from Nessingwary's). If you're finding STV too difficult, consider Arathi Highlands (some of the later quests are around level 40-ish) or Desolace.

Levels 42-43: At level 42 you pick up new ranks of Blessing of Might, Flash of Light, Seal of Righteousness and Seal of the Crusader. You also get Cleanse, which should replace Purify when you're trying to get rid of debuffs. Like Purify, Cleanse removes 1 poison and 1 disease debuff, but it can also remove 1 magic debuff. It also costs the same amount of mana to cast, so there's no real reason to ever use Purify again. 

On the leveling front, continue running quests in STV. If you find yourself running low on quests or just want a chance in scenery, you can take a trip to the Swamp of Sorrows, which is east of Duskwood and Deadwind Pass. If you're Horde, stop in Stonard and get the flight path, and stock up on quests. There's less to do here if you're Alliance, but there are a few quests to be found in the swamp.

Levels 44-45: When you go to train at 44, you'll pick up new ranks of Blessing of Wisdom, Exorcism, and Frost Resistance Aura, as well as a new skill -- Hammer of Wrath. Hammer of Wrath is similar to Execute for warriors (it can only be used when your target has less than 20% health), but since it is a ranged attack that causes holy damage, it can be used to finish off runners. And that's a good thing, because you should be questing in Tanaris now, where there are many mobs who like to run when they get low on health. 

If you're Horde and looking to get to Tanaris, fly to Thousand Needles, then head east to the Shimmering Flats. In the southern part of Shimmering Flats, there is a road that goes through the mountains that leads to Tanaris. If you're Alliance, this trip is a bit of a pain -- take the boat to Theramore, then follow the road north until you find the west exit to The Barrens. Once in the Barrens, head south until you get to the Great Lift, which will take you down into Thousand Needles. From there, follow the Horde directions until you get to Tanaris. Almost immediately you'll see the goblin town of Gadgetzan -- the Alliance flight path is on the south side of the city, and the Horde flight path is on the north side.

There are lots of quests for both factions in Tanaris -- check all parts of Gadgetzan, as well as Steamwheedle Port to the east. If you like to grind (especially if you're Prot spec), then you will likely find Lost Rigger Cove (south of Steamwheedle) a paradise. It's filled to the brim with pirates that'll respawn faster than you can kill them.

Levels 46-47: New ranks of Holy Light and Retribution Aura, as well as a new blessing called Blessing of Sacrifice. This is a "tactical" type of blessing, because it only lasts 30 seconds (with a 30 second cooldown); however, it can be used to great effect in groups, and especially in battlegrounds. If you cast this on someone that is taking damage, it will transfer part of that damage to you, preventing you from being crowd controlled (remember, skills like Polymorph and Sap break on any kind of damage). I never used it much while soloing, though. 

You've got a couple choices of places to level, here. You'll be coming back to Tanaris, so don't feel you have to clear out every single quest. No matter what your faction is, check out the Hinterlands (northeast of Hillsbrad, just north of the ruins of Durnholde). The Alliance town of Aerie Peak is just to your north as you enter, but the Troll run village of Revantusk is a little harder to get to -- if you follow the road that starts about mid-zone to the southeast, you should eventually see a path down to the coast. Once there, head south the Revantusk village (the flight path is out on the dock). There are quests here for both factions, but there are far more for the Horde, some of which have great quest rewards, so I wouldn't skip this place.

Alternatively, check out Feralas -- Feathermoon Stronghold in the west if you're Alliance, and Camp Mojache towards the east side of the zone if you're Horde.

Levels 48-49: You can train a new rank of Fire Resistance Aura, Redemption, Seal of Justice, and Seal of Wisdom at 48. If you're specced Holy, you can also pick up a new rank of Holy Shock. 

If you're Horde, you'll likely still be working on Hinterlands quests, but if you're Alliance I like to head to Searing Gorge around this level (don't worry Horde players, there will still be lots here for you to do when you finish Hinterlands). The safest way for both factions to get to Searing Gorge is through the west exit from the Badlands. You'll emerge in the southeast part of the zone, but the flight path (and a good chunk of the quests) comes from Thorium Point in the northern part of the zone. There's plenty of quests here to keep both factions busy for a while.

Level 50: Whoo! I always breath a sigh of relief when I hit 50, because it generally starts to pick up again here (most of 41-50 is slow for me). This is really the last big milestone for your talent trees, because it means you now have access to the 41 point talents. If you're Retribution, you get Crusader Strike, which is an instant strike that causes 110% weapon damage and refreshes all judgments on the target. For Protection paladins, you'll get Avenger's Shield, which is a ranged ability that causes holy damage and dazes up to 3 targets. Holy paladins can pick up Divine Illumination, which reduces the cost of all spells by 50% for 15 seconds. All paladins get new ranks of Blessing of Light, Consecration, Devotion Aura, Divine Shield, Flash of Light, Lay on Hands, Seal of Light, and Seal of Righteousness. You also get a new spell called Holy Wrath, which is sort of an AoE exorcism -- it causes holy damage to all undead and demon targets within 20 yards of you.

I like doing the quests in the north part of Blasted Lands to get me going through level 50. They're all grinding quests, so you'll get good experience from kills as well as the quests, and the reward for each is a nice item that buffs one of your stats by 25. These quests are repeatable, but unfortunately the quest reward doesn't stack, so you can't farm up a bunch of them to help you level.


You're getting closer and closer to Outland, and it won't be long before you can get your epic land mount at 60 (which is well worth it, since it will likely be the fastest thing you can ride for a long time). Start saving money for it now if you haven't already, cause the increased mount speed is invaluable. You're almost there, so don't get discouraged! You'll make it, but there's a few more levels to get through first. Just keep swinging!

The Light and How to Swing It: Levels 21-40

Over here at The Light and How to Swing It, we've gotten behind on our class guide. If you missed the first installment and have just rolled a Paladin, check out Elizabeth's guide on levels 1-20. As Elizabeth said in her article, until you hit 40 or so, Retribution is probably the best talent tree for solo leveling unless you're doing a lot of instances where you are healing or tanking. Even so, Prot and Holy specs get far more effective at 40, so my advice is also to stay Ret until then, as it really will speed things up.

Be prepared -- going from 20 to 40 will take you a lot longer than going from 1-20. If you're on a PvP server you'll have to level in a contested area (this means you are automatically flagged for PvP), and that means you are likely to be ganked by opposing players who will often be a much higher level than you. If you're on a PvE server there is no threat of ganking unless you flag for PvP or wander into an area held by the opposing faction, but the difficulty level also ramps up here as well. Mobs have more health and do more damage, and you will probably find quests are harder to complete. Generally, you won't need to group up for quests (your bubble and your ability to heal yourself is invaluable), but in many zones it's not a bad idea. Since Blizzard increased the amount of experience gained from quests in this level range, it may be advantageous to group up and finish a quest quickly, rather than do it solo.

As you've probably realized by now, every 10 levels you gain is a milestone: you generally pick up more skills or new skills at these levels, and the next big tier on your talent tree becomes available. Usually I would recommend that you start saving for your first mount at level 20, but paladins, like warlocks, get their first mount for free. Despite that fact, I would still try to save some money, as training your new skills can quickly get expensive. As you level from 20 to 40, make sure to increase your skill in any gathering professions you may have (herbalism/skinning/mining) so that you don't have to spend extra time in lower level areas grinding it up later.

Alright, let's get to the new skills!

Level 22: You get another new aura -- Concentration Aura! You don't need to run with this up all the time, but if you're under attack and need to heal yourself it's best to switch to this first. When combined with Spiritual Focus from the Holy tree, your heals can't be interrupted by damage. Level 22 also gets you new ranks of Holy Light and Seal of the Crusader. Additionally, you get a brand new skill... Seal of Justice. This seal doesn't deal damage but it does have a chance to stun the target. However, its real power lies in Judging it: the Judgement will stop a mob from running in fear when it gets low on health, which is great because running mobs have a nasty habit of pulling other mobs.

Level 24: You get a longer lasting Blessing of Protection and Hammer of Justice, as well as an improved Blessing of Wisdom. You also get a new skill called Turn Undead, which acts as a fear for undead mobs. This is handy since undead are immune to all normal fear effects. If you're leveling an alliance character in Duskwood, you'll probably use this a fair amount there.

Level 26: Your rewards for making it to 26 are new ranks of Seal of Righteousness, Retribution Aura, and Flash of Light, as well as a new skill -- Blessing of Salvation. Blessing of Salvation reduces the amount of a threat generated by 30%, which is excellent to use on DPS-type characters when running instances since it makes it harder for them to pull aggro off the tank.

Level 28: Only two things to train this level: a new rank of Exorcism, and the first of your "Resist" auras. Shadow Resistance Aura does just what it sounds like: increases your shadow resistance (by 30, for this rank).

Level 30: Another milestone! You've probably seen a few new zones now and are ready for more! Before you get back out there, make sure to stop by a city with a Paladin trainer to get your new skills, since there's a lot this level. If you've stayed in the Retribution tree, you can get the talent Sanctity Aura, which increases Holy damage by 10% and should replace Retribution Aura when you're in combat. You also get new ranks of Consecration, Holy Light, Devotion Aura, Lay on Hands and Seal of Command (if you're Ret). In addition, you get 2 completely new skills: Seal of Light, and Divine Intervention. Seal of Light (and its Judgement) have a chance to restore health whenever you hit with your weapon. Divine Intervention is only really useful in instances -- it has a long cooldown, requires a reagent, and kills you when you use it, but it saves your target from death. When used on someone else who can rez in an instance, you've just prevented a wipe (when all your party members die).

Level 32: You get another resistance aura, called Frost Resistance Aura (guess what it does). You also will snag new ranks of Blessing of Might and Seal of the Crusader.

Level 34: Upgrades to Blessing of Wisdom, Seal of Righteousness and Flash of Light are yours at level 34. You also get a new bubble: Divine Shield. This is an upgrade to Divine Protection -- you're still protected from all spells and physical attacks, but the main difference is that you are able to attack while using Divine Shield! The downside to this is that it doubles the amount of time between your attacks, but at least you can do more than stand there and heal yourself now.

Level 36: At level 36 you gain new ranks of Exorcism, Redemption and Retribution Aura in addition to your final resistance aura. This one is called Fire Resistance Aura, and it works the same way your other resist auras do, except for Fire instead of Frost or Shadow.

Level 38: You're probably sick of running everywhere on foot at this point, but you're almost there. Level 38 gets you new ranks of Blessing of Protection, Holy Light and Turn Undead. You also get a new seal: this one is called Seal of Wisdom and it works similarly to Seal of Light, except this grants mana instead of health.

Level 40: You made it! Level 40 is a major milestone because you get your first mount -- nothing compares to the feeling of riding around on your mount for the very first time, especially if it's your first character. I spent hours just riding around when I got my first one. Unlike other classes, who have to shell out a good amount of gold to get the training and purchase their mount, you get yours for free. The other big deal at this level is that you learn to equip Plate armor! You may not replace the Mail you've been wearing for the last 40 levels right away, but you should upgrade as soon as you can. You also get new ranks of Consecration, Devotion Aura, Hammer of Justice, Seal of Command, and Shadow Resistance Aura. If you're staying Retribution, you can pick up Repentance, which acts as a ranged sleep that is usable on human enemies. If you've been eyeballing the other trees, this is a good time to respec. If you want to go Protection, you can pick up Holy Shield and start some serious prot grinding. If the Holy tree appeals to you, you can pick up Holy Shock and start on a Shockadin spec.

With a mount, the world shrinks: you get from place to place much faster than before, which helps increase the speed at which you level, and you have most of the skills you'll use for the rest of the game. But now that you're 40, there's no time to stop: 41-60 can be both the most challenging and rewarding part of the leveling process, and Outlands looms behind 60. There's still a long way to go, but don't get discouraged -- you'll make it if you just keep swinging!

Your guide to levels 41-50 this way ==>